A Couple Cool Things

 Shockingly immoral books

My Monday started out pretty interesting. It was ALA's Banned Books Week. I was in charge of putting on the Read-Out, which is a common way to celebrate (people get together and read passages from their favorite challenged or banned book). I got up before class, and got to my e-mail to find 1.) an e-mail from the Daily Texan requesting to cover the event and 2.) an e-mail sent out to the Ischool's listserv calling for a protest of the event! The e-mail was from another student who is sort of known for having a worldview that differs from most librarians. He basically said Banned Books Week is about celebrating placing age-inappropriate materials into the hands of children. All the work I meant to get to was placed on hold while I dealt with the PR.

 Luckily, no protesters showed up and we had a pleasant read-out. Actually, I didn't do as much promotion for the event as I'd wished, but the call for a protest sort of did the promotion for me. The Daily Texan article is here.

 Even cooler news: Blondie! My seats were not this good, I'm just lucky to have an amazing camera.

I'll leave you with that. Lots of work to get done this weekend! I'm looking forward to a Dutch Baby for Sunday brunch.

Happy Fall, Everybody!

It's 103 degrees outside!

Grad school, part 2. And some vacation

 Emily at her aunt & uncle's

My 2nd and final year of library school is well underway. In order to stave off the impeding doom, Emily and I went to Galveston the first weekend after classes started.

We started in Houston, actually, to visit Emily's aunt, uncle, cousins, cousins' girlfriend and wife, and their baby and dog. The dog's name was Anna which threw me off a few times.

From what I've heard, everyone in Houston lives in a gated community. This one had a variety of flora and fauna. Have you ever had an egret look straight at you? They are paper thin! It basically disappeared.

 We made it over to Galveston the next day and were looking forward to balmy 90 degree weather after weeks of 105. 

 I really just wanted to see a pelican. Check.

 We visited the Elissa, the Official Tall Ship of Texas.

 Then took a dip in the Gulf, which was surprisingly warm. Almost bath warm, so it was a little weird. 

 We got the safari room at the Avenue O B&B which was charming, especially with touches like this.

 But after a too-quick trip, it was back to reality.

This semester I'm taking usability, archives and "Understanding Users". I've already taught two classes at work. I have already skipped multiple readings. So, the semester is pretty much underway. It's a little creepy to have a Major Life Change only 8 months away. I've already started one job application. 

But, let's talk about something more interesting. Food and Stuff!

 I accidentally went to an Austin Fashion Week show for Emily's friend's birthday dinner. What does this have to do with food? Phara's makes a mean tabbouleh. This is not it pictured. This is this made with quinoa. Just wanted to share.

 Now for Stuff. I got a new laptop and decided to become a Mac person. Except for the problem that I'm having transferring my backup files from my PC to my Mac, I'm sold. Any advice is appreciated (especially with transferring music from iTunes, although I'm enjoying the Aaliyah station on Pandora).

Finally, Food and Stuff. Because I can use my new iPad to read while I'm eating spaghetti. I LOVE MY NEW IPAD. Here is my almost-equally-great "stuff in my kitchen" spaghetti carbonara recipe:

1 serving spaghetti

2 slices bacon, chopped into 1" pieces

1 egg

2 tablespoons half and half

1/4 cup grated parmesan

salt & lots of pepper

parsley

peas if you have them

Cook the spaghetti (duh). While the spaghetti is cooking, start cooking the bacon with a little oil in a skillet on medium heat, stirring every once in awhile. Meanwhile, stir the egg with the half and half and parmesan. Some people only use the egg yolks, but that's a waste of good egg (what would the chickens think?). Season with salt and pepper. Once the bacon is cooked, but is still soft, drain some of the fat (if you're worried about health or whatever). Drain the spaghetti and add to the bacon skillet. Pour in the dairy mixture and peas while stirring constantly to prevent the egg from scrambling. When it looks like sauce and is heated through, put on a plate and top with parsley. Yum!